A multilayer ceramic capacitor generally has a capacitor body of laminate structure and a pair of external electrodes, and shaped roughly as a rectangular solid defined by the length, width, and height. The electrostatic capacitance of such multilayer ceramic capacitor is ensured by the capacitive part, or specifically the part where multiple internal electrode layers are stacked with ceramic layers in between, of the capacitor body.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors of this type continue to face demand for smaller mounting area to support high density mounting and also for larger capacitance. This demand for larger capacitance is generally addressed by a technique of making the internal electrode layers thinner to increase the number of layers, but given the fact that the internal electrode layers are already as thin as in μm order, further thickness reduction is physically limited.
Another technique to address the demand for larger capacitance involves integrally stacking multiple multilayer ceramic capacitors (refer to Patent Literature 1 cited below). However, this technique requires that multiple multilayer ceramic capacitors be stacked and joined together and also a pair of terminals be provided, which unavoidably increases the unit price substantially due to higher cost. In addition, integrally stacking laminated capacitors that may be used individually causes the integral stack to become higher than necessary.
On the other hand, making the multilayer ceramic capacitor higher than it is wide in order to increase the number of internal electrode layers is another idea in addressing the demand for larger capacitance. However, multilayer ceramic capacitors meeting the condition of “Height>Width” presents a concern that self-alignment effect will become difficult to achieve when they are mounted on circuit boards, etc., compared to multilayer ceramic capacitors meeting the condition of “Height=Width” or “Height<Width.”
In other words, when adopting the idea of making the multilayer ceramic capacitor higher than it is wide in order to address the demand for larger capacitance, it is absolutely essential that conditions for mounting it on a circuit board, etc., in a favorable manner be identified.